![]() Artist John Singer Sargent in Chicago's Gilded Age.The Original Chicago Thin Crust Pizza at Home Run.The Famous Smoke-Ring Blowing Billboard on the Nor.Lockwood Castle Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor, Chi.The Lunchtime Theater - The Great Chicago Fire 1871.Abraham Lincoln spoke at Major's Hall in Bloomingt.The Black Hawk War and Illinois’ Role (April to Au.I t was the private conference room and showroom for architect Helmut Jahn (1940-2021), with his offices in Suite 300 of the North American Life Insurance Building. The club was a big hit, but by 1954, the cupola was converted into a showroom for a commercial artist who kept and used the old circular bar of the Stratosphere Club. The lounge was decorated as a hot air balloon, accentuating the outstanding views of the Chicago River and the Loop. ![]() The Stratosphere was scheduled to open in March and was the top four floors – a kitchen on the 37th, a regular restaurant on the 38th and 39th, and a cocktail lounge on the 40th. An ornate birdcage elevator took guests to the 40th-floor. On January 10, 1937, a Tribune article entitled “ City’s Highest Restaurant Being Built.” Owner Paul Streeter named the club after a closed club in the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The creation of the Stratosphere Club was announced in the Tribune. Al Capone was in Alcatraz Federal Prison since August 22, 1934, and prohibition ended on December 5, 1933. The Stratosphere Club in the dome was not, nor ever was a speakeasy, and Al Capone never stepped foot in the Stratosphere Club which o pened in March of 1937. ![]() The best part of this 40 story building is the dome at the top. All outside doors would lock, and elevators would stop at the next floor, doors remaining closed and would not move. From the security office, a lock-down would commence upon any tenant's trigger of the alarm system. The car elevator would bring you to the floor you worked on and then drop your car off on one of the parking levels. So, to make sure no one was attacked on the walk between the car and the office, jeweler's ju st drove their car straight into the building! For its first 14 years, the building had a car lift that served the first 23 floors and facilitated safe transfers for jewelry merchants. Since jewelers would carry their merchandise around with them, they were often in danger of being robbed. One of them was a really extreme version of a parking garage. Since this was originally a jewelers building, it had many innovative security features. “ brings people together a lot more than it used to,” says Jim McCarthy, a tenant at 300 South Wacker for nearly 20 years.The lower floors were opened to their first tenants in May 1927, the upper stories opened in the summer, and the tower in October of 1926. Result: The combination of these elements transforms the lobby into a glowing white box visible from the street both day and night. Finally, a new bright red building identification enlivens the glass entryway, front desk, and rear wall. The custom media includes weather information, event listings, community-related images, and building identification, with each template blending into the physical context and lighting effect of the lobby. In addition to the map, synchronized media installations on the two side walls and in each elevator bay show a continuous loop of local content. The deep blue of the Chicago River weaves its way through the gray grid of the streets. The map theme continues inside the lobby with a cut-metal, forced-perspective depiction of the neighborhood on the walls, placing the building in its urban context. The centerpiece of the design is the larger-than-life map on the river-facing side of the building showing its location within the city, which has made the building a must-see landmark on city tours. The resulting design features an eye-catching 40-story mural on the outside of the building and a bright, inviting entryway and lobby. Solution: ESI Design envisioned a map theme that would highlight the building’s connection to the city and the river. Challenge: 300 South Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago needed a new identity.
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